4 Educational Family Vacation Ideas

There are many reasons to have a family vacation – to bring your family together, for adventure or for the opportunity to get away from it all and relax. Yet more and more people are eschewing these in favor of another purpose for their holidays – education.

It makes sense. Why not combine a great trip away as a family with the opportunity to educate your children and maybe even yourself? Whether it be a trip to Washington DC to help them better understand the history and governance of the United States or a visit to Alabama to learn about the universe at the U.S. Space and Rocket Centre, there are plenty of vacation destinations across the world that can teach us stuff while we are away.

Here are four educational family vacation ideas.

Washington, D.C.

A trip to any capital city will teach you plenty about that country, but Washington D.C. is especially brilliant at helping kids learn about the United States. The National Archives and Records Administration is fantastic for the history of America, being the home of the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. The White House and Congress teach us about how the country is governed, the Supreme Court about how laws are applied and the Smithsonian Museums cover so many different topics that there is guaranteed to be something for everyone.

Huntsville, Alabama

If your kids have a keen interest in space and science, then Huntsville, Alabama is one place you should definitely look at holidaying. It is home to the U.S. Space and Rocket Centre, a museum filled with exhibits about NASA’s achievements in space. There are dozens of interactive exhibits such as the Mission to Mars Simulator, the Spacedome IMAX Theatre and the Space Shot and G Force Accelator which gives visitors and idea of the physical impact astronauts experience when inspace.

With Astronaut Mr. Ron Garan - 2014

Dominican Republic

The DominicanRepublic  was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, one of the first landing points of the great explorer in the Caribbean. As such, it has a rich educational history to go with its beautiful beaches and stunning greenery. There are a flurry of historical colonial cities on the island which can teach plenty about how the Americas came to be colonized and it can also educate on the beauty of nature with its vast rain forests and pristine waterfalls. For more information on holidaying in the Caribbean, check out Caribbeansbest.Org

London

There probably isn’t a more educational city in the world than London. It’s home to two of the greatest museums in the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum – both of which are free to enter. They cover science and nature and the Imperial War Museum looks at some of the worst conflicts that have been fought in recent times by humans. You have the worlds first parliament at Westminster, the home of the royal family at Buckingham Palace and lovers of the English language can visit Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and see some of the inspirational sites behind the Harry Potter books.